For Plato, knowledge ultimately depends upon the Good

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In The Republic, Plato tries to describe his view of the ideal society, by setting the characteristics of a just state, a just individual, and the notion of justice seems to go along with the notion of goodness. Ultimately, a good or just person has been defined as the one that serves its purpose. In Plato's society, the population is divided into different categories (Merchants, Auxiliaries and Guardians), and the people in each category understand and agree on their situation, because they are naturally predisposed to the function that they are assigned.

The Guardians are the rulers of the society because, according to Plato again, they are morally superior and therefore able to rule a society in a just manner, without seeking wealth and pleasure. It follows from this that the Guardians are those who represent wisdom, they must be the Philosophers; in other words, they should be able to define what is good or bad. Yet, although they have the natural skills for fulfilling their purpose of Guardians, they still need to pursue a very serious educational career in order for them to seek the ultimate knowledge.

Extraits

[...] Or does it exist independently from the human existence? Can good be associated with perfection, or God? In the part VII, section 5 of The Republic, Plato discusses with Glaucon (his older brother) the relationship between knowledge and the good. Plato dismisses the idea that knowledge is equal to good or pleasure, as for him, the good the end of all endeavor, the object on which every heart is set, whose existence it divines” ( p.230, 505e), whereas knowledge is rather “child of the good”(p.231, 507a). [...]

[...] According to the simile of the Sun, the Sun is the source of growth and light which gives the visibility to objects of sense and the poer of seeing to the eye, which is the faculty of sight. In the intelligible world, the Good is source of reality and truth, which gives intelligibility to objects of thought and the power of knowing the mind, which is the faculty of knowledge. Let us put this in another way. Just like I need light to see a chair, I need the good to reach knowledge. So the good seems to be a necessary condition to knowledge. For Plato, knowledge ultimately depends upon the good. [...]

[...] It follows from this that the Guardians are those who represent wisdom, they must be the Philosophers; in other words, they should be able to define what is good or bad. Yet, although they have the natural skills for fulfilling their purpose of Guardians, they still need to pursue a very serious educational career in order for them to seek the ultimate knowledge. However, Plato does not understand knowledge the way anyone would, as the collection of information about the things that constitute our reality. In fact, Plato insists in distinguishing knowledge and opinion. [...]

[...] The reality of forms is an intelligible reality which cannot be grasped only by experience, in contrast with the visible reality that systematically generates opinions and beliefs, and that are often illusory. Even within the forms, there is a hierarchy on top of which lies the supreme Good. In the context of its relationship with knowledge, the Good is defined through the image of the Cave. Before going any further in the details, one needs to understand the meaning that Plato gives to the notion of goodness. What is good? [...]

[...] Therefore the ultimate reality should perhaps be rather a particular one instead of universal. What makes something exist cannot be exclusively its form, it has to have matter accompanying this form in order for the human mind to be able to look for its purpose and explain its behaviors. Plato's believes in a universal truth which is the measure of all things, which creates and feeds knowledge, he gives it the name of forms, and to a certain extent I could call it God, if it is the supreme entity that is not created by anything, that sustains itself and that is the essence of everything that lies in the realm of all things. [...]